October 5, 2007 - We've been waiting for a game for quite some time to put the Sony brand back on top. And while the jury's still out, this title will be enough to catapult Sony into its former glory. The hype surrounding this one is certainly enough to make people take notice. The Metal Gear universe has been captivating gamers for more than 20 years and shows few signs of slowing down. And with this latest entry being popularly touted as the Solid franchise's swan song, people are pretty excited to see the fate of Solid Snake.

The game's story will pretty much pick up where gamers who've been playing through the franchise were left off. Solid Snake has been given a final mission to destroy Liquid Snake, who has taken the form of Liquid Ocelot and controls all of the Private Military Corporations under the heading of Outer Haven. It's a dire situation for sure, and the fact that Snake is rapidly aging makes it that much more impossible. However, you'll still have Snake's trademark stealth to your advantage, not to mention a veritable arsenal of awesome firepower, so I'm sure you'll be able to muddle through somehow.

Controls for this game are incredibly smooth and great for veterans of the series as well as those who are new. The triangle button is probably the most important facet of the game because it serves as an action button. What I mean by this is that if there is an important item or a hiding spot near you, you use the triangle button. If there is an obstacle in your way or something else that is otherwise hindering you, you can use the triangle button to get past it. The controls are rounded out by an X-button crouch, a square button aiming system, and of course, the L1 trigger. One thing that veterans of the series will be happy to hear is about the improved A.I. alert system. You'll have to use Snake's uncanny methods of stealth to get past even the most unwitting of enemies. So this means using that rather unique octo-camo in some pretty interesting ways. Those who have seen the gameplay footage will know what I mean. Floor tiles and statues, anyone?

Another really cool feature of Metal Gear Solid 4 is the different status meters that you'll use to keep Snake happy and healthy. There are a grand total of three different meters that you'll be using: a life meter, a psyche meter, and a stress meter. The health meter is what you would expect and just shows how much damage you can take from bullets and other miscellaneous things that hit you. The psyche meter deals with how well Snake is coping with the battle at hand. If it gets too hectic, or too hot even, his psyche will go down, which will translate to less accuracy when aiming and lower overall performance. The cool thing about this feature is that the basis for the psyche meter comes from actual data recorded from soldiers out in the field. The third meter is the stress meter, and this meter is also based on real-life battle data. Whenever Snake gets in a tight situation, his stress will skyrocket. The heightened stress results in better speed and accuracy, but eventually leads to a plummet in other stats. But the good news is that these stats can be recovered. How? By reading a girly mag of course!

One thing that has many people excited is the Metal Gear Online starter pack that has been confirmed to ship with Metal Gear Solid 4. Most people were envisioning the final entry in the Metal Gear Solid franchise to include functionality as part of the gameplay. So when it was revealed the Metal Gear Solid 4 and Metal Gear Online were going to be different games, it was quite a blow. But there seems to be a compromising wind afoot, and a smaller-scale version of Metal Gear Online will be included as part of Metal Gear Solid 4. No word on what the actual functions of the watered down online component will entail as of yet, but I'm sure more details will become available as we get closer to release.

Is Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots the game to sell the PlayStation 3? No one really knows the answer to this question, but many are looking to both the system and the game to create sheer Metal Gear bliss. And with new ways to play, an engaging storyline, and a limited online functionality, Metal Gear Solid 4 just may be the game to beat next year!

By
Amanda L. KondolojyCCC
Freelance Writer

Features:

Follow Snake is his last adventure against his arch-nemesis, the ever-evolving Liquid Snake.

Improved A.I. and all-new weapons make for a completely different combat experience!

Use your Octo-Camo to blend into just about anything. Statues, floor tiles, you name it, you can be it!

Online functionality right out of the box with the Metal Gear Online starter pack!